Monday, May 29, 2006

National Free Wireless Broadband Proposed: "The concept of metropolitan Internet access began in 2005, when Philadelphia decided to offer its residents free Wi-Fi access. Tempe, Ariz., and other cities soon followed suit, while San Francisco's decision to procure a free Wi-Fi network from Google generated intense debate. Meanwhile, technologies such as WiMAX have also emerged as potential metropolitan wireless solutions.What's different about M2Z's proposal, however, is that it would create a privately-funded wireless backbone across the U.S., something never proposed before.'I think something needs to be done to deal with the broadband gap we have in the U.S. compared to other nations,' said Bruce Sachs, a founding board member of M2Z and managing partner of Charles River Ventures. 'Here we are at 35 percent broadband penetration and countries like Korea are twice that. Ultimately that gap will lead to gaps in everything from education to commerce. I think the project really addresses a big need in this country.'"